digital ocean setup-droplet basic tutorial/questions

[bruce]

Hi list.

Taking the plunge to setup some test digital ocean (DO) droplets.
These aren't to be used for web servers, but to be used to run test
apps, and to get a better understanding of actually setting up/plying
with some of the different aspects of a small amount of sys admin.

So, that I don't blow it, I thought I'd post here, and perhaps a few
of my questions can be answered, saving me psin/headache. And hey,
others might learn as well. I've looked over different sites/youtube
vids for a good chunk of these questions, but want to make sure I'm
going down the right path.

I want to setup a few (4-5) different test servers. I want the servers
to be able to communicate with each other via name. I'd also like to
be able to access one of the servers by name, to allow me to ssh into
the box via name, as opposed to ipaddress.

Everything I've seen suggests that I need a domainName, but I suspect
that's due to most people wanting to setup webservers. If I'm setting
up a box within DO's ip range, the box(es) shouldn't need an actual
domain name should they?? I can understand that for a box to be
accessed via/external to DO, it might need a domain name.

  +----------------------------------   +

    box 1
    box 2
    box3                 <<<------------------ outside boxA (from
internet to box3)
    digital ocean ip world

 +-------- ----------------- -----     +

where does the domain name come in?
where does the DNS setup come in.. ?
 box (1-3) will be internal/DO boxes

For each box, I assume I'll have to have a dns entry for each box
(ip/name) yes/no?

Once this gets resolved I can test out setting up nfs/mysql servers,
and having the ability to access the boxes by name from each other.

Thoughts/comments..

Thanks